Tiger Lily is a fictional character in J. M. Barrie's 1904 play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, his 1911 novel Peter and Wendy, and their various adaptations.

History

Tiger Lily is the daughter of Great Big Little Panther, the chief of the Piccaninny tribe, the fictional tribe of Native Americans living in Neverland. Barrie describes her as "a princess in her own right. The most beautiful of dusky Dianas and the belle of the Piccaninnies, coquettish, cold and amorous by turns." She is apparently old enough to be married, but refuses any suitors because of her feelings towards Peter. She is jealous of Wendy and Tinker Bell. Tiger Lily is kidnapped by Captain Hook and his pirates but is rescued by Peter Pan.

In other media

Reception

The character has attracted controversy due to accusations of racism and Native American stereotyping. Controversy also arose from the name given to her tribe, "Piccanniny", a term now widely interpreted as a racial slur. The Disney animated sequel Return to Never Land (2002) avoided controversy by leaving out the Indians entirely, although Peter and Jane briefly visit their monument. The book series Peter and the Starcatchers, also commissioned by Disney, replaces the Indians with a Samoan tribe called the People of the Mollusc, with a girl named Shining Pearl serving as the analog of Tiger Lily.